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China-Australia trade was worth US$129bn last year, an increase of 16 percent compared to 2016, according to official Australian data.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) stated that trade with the world's second largest economy hit a record high in 2017, accounting for nearly 28 percent of the country's overall foreign trade volume, Xinhua reports.

Specifically, Australia's annual exports to China surged by 22 percent to US$78.6bn, representing one third of its total export volume, while imports increased by eight percent to US$50.5bn.

Last year, Australia maintained its export growth to China for the fourth consecutive year, with the state of Tasmania recording an unprecedented growth figure of nearly 50 percent, the ABS noted.

Statistics quoted by China Trade News show that by September 2017, Australia had overtaken France to become China's biggest bottled wine exporter, with sales up 61 percent to US$393m in the first nine months of the year. Exports of skin care products and unwrought refined lead also saw substantial growth during the same period.

Steve Ciobo, the Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, believes that the massive jump in exports was mainly attributable to the signing of a bilateral free trade agreement, which took effect in December 2015.

Chi Dehua
has been a staff editor at GBTIMES since 2013. She covers foreign affairs, business and culture.